Road-scraper



C. M;D|CUS.

ROAD SCRAPER.

APPLlcMloN FILED MAYS.

CHARLES M. DICUS, OF MILL SPRING, NORTH CAROLINA.

ROAD-SCRAPER.

Application filed May 6, 1919.

T0 all 107mm it may concer-a Be it known that I, Cr-rnnnns l/I. DICUS, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Mill Spring, in thecounty of Polk and State orn North Carolina, have invented a new andImproved Road-Scraper, oli' which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

My invention relates to road scrapers of a type suitable for use uponcountry roads and having such form and construction as to be readilyoperated at a comparatively low cost.

More particularly stated, my improved road scraper is a comparativelysimple machine and can be drawn by horses or by a gasolene tractor asdesired and can be readily operated by one man or two men as desired.

Among the purposes sought to be accomplished by my invention are thefollowing:

I. To enable the machine to gather up large stones and loose trash so asto collect the same together and convey it for any desired distance.

II. To give the road bed a true and proper conformity with a minimumei;- penditure or" power 'for the purpose.

III. To enable the machine to be readily placed in such form as to passacross a bridge or through a tunnel, certain parts of the mechanismbeing changed in position for this purpose. y

IV. To enable the scraper blades all to be controlled from a singlepoint by the operator.

V. To provide certain adjusting mechanism for positioning the variousmovable parts.

VI. To improve generally the structure of devices or" this generalcharacterin order to increase their eliciency.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawing forming part of thisspecification and in which like letters indicate like parts through theseveral figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved road scraper;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, certain parts being removed;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 looking in the directionindicated by the arrows;

Fig. e is a fragmentary section on the line 4 4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the forward Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Aug. 24, 1920. Serial No. 295,048.

scraper blade and sociated therewith;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5 looking' in the directionindicated by the arrows;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7 of Fi l looking in the directionindicated by the arrows.

Extending the entire maximum width of the machine is a channel beam 8having a slight curvature in each of two different directions as may beunderstood from Figs. l and 2, that is to say, the channel beam has aslight curvature as indicated in Fig. 2 and has also a slight curvaturebackward in the center as may be understood from Fig. l. Carried by thechannel beam 8 and parts immediately asdisposed adjacent the endsthereof are a' pair of scraper blades 9, 9a. of scraper blades l0, l0are carried by the channel'beam 8 and are disposed nearer the middle ofthe machine. Another scrapper blade ll is disposed in the approximateiniddle portion of the channel beam 8. These scraper blades are allmovable vertically in relation to the channel beam. At the ends of thechannel beam there are two guide plates l2 held in position by bolts 1T.rFliese guide plates overlap the adjacent ends of the scraper blades 9,9a. Two other guide plates i3 overlap the opposite ends of the scraperblades 9, 9 and also overlap the adjacent ends of the scraper blades l0,10a. The guide plates 13 are supported upon guide pins l5 which extendintermediate the adjacent ends or" the scraper blades. Thus,

each scraper blade is backed by the channel beam 8 and is allowedfreedom of movement or at least adjustment by the guide plates whichengage it and overlap it slightly at its ends. Another pair of guideplates lll disposed comparatively near the middle et' the machineoverlap the adjacent edges of the scraper blades l0, 10a, ll as may beunderstood from Fig. 2. These guide plates le are supported upon guidepins l5 of the kind above described. rl`he scraper blade ll carries anarm l1a extending upwardly and by aid of a pin 1lb (see Fig. 7) may beadjusted to different heights as desired. For this purpose the arm Il isprovided with holes IlC through which the pins 1lb may be thrust. rIlhcscraper blade 9 carries a pair o' racks 16, 17 secured rigidly upon itand extending above its upper edge. rIlhese racks are alike, the rackAnother pair 16 being shown more particularly in Fig. 3. Tivo otherracks 18, 19 are similarly mounted upon the scraper blade 10 and thescraper blades 9a. 10 are likewise equipped with racks 20,21, ee, es,pairs.

Engaging the racks, respectively, are pinions 2l, 25, 2G, 27, 28, 29,30, 31, these pinions being carried upon shafts 3Q, 33, Bel, 35, 3G,

similarly arranged in BT, 3S and 39. The shats in question are providedwith sprocket wheels 40, 11, L12, L13, all, 45, (3, y-fli' and engagingthese sprocket -wheels are sprocket chains 8, eti). rllhe sprocketchains also engage tivo sprockets 51 carried by Vshort shafts 52, 53,these shafts also carryinghand Wheels 5ft, The operator by turning thehand Wheels actuates the sprocket chains and thus causes all fthe shaftsafter their pinions to turn, thus 'raising or lowering the racks and bydoing this raises or lowers the scraper bladesabove described. rlhevarious shatts are yournaled iin a pair of hanger bars 56, 57, thelatter be- Yeo ing joined at their centei' and having together anapproJ-:imate 1f-form as indicated ni'liig. 2. The channel beam 8carries a i number o1 cross bars 58,59, 60, 61, secured rigidly upon itand extending through these cross bars aresupporting stems 62, G3, G4,G5 arranged in pairs, there being one paii 'for each bar; that is, eachcross bai' carries two supporting stems extending l.*ertically throughits opposite ends. Each supporting stem is provided with a 'fork 66carrying a road Wheel 67 and by aid et these parts,the Weight of thechannel beam S and parts carried by it are supported. Each guide plate131s provided with a pair of eyes 13 Yintegral With-and extending fromit late 1ally as indicatedinllig. 1l. i bolt 13b entends lthrough theseeyesand also through a pair "as indicated in Fig. 1, and also beingslightly curved in a vertical plane as shown in lhg. 5. Mounted rigidlyupon the channel beam TO are tivo cross bars 71, 72. These tivo bars areexactly alike andthe construction of the ybar 71 may be understoody'from Fig. 6. The

bar il is provided with openings', 74 and extending through theseopenings are racks 75,76. Engaging thesel racks are pinions 77, 78 Whichai'e revoluble as hereinafter described for Vthe purpose'of raising andlowering the cross bars and other parts supported thereby. 4Each Yrackbar 75, 76' at its lower end carries a road Wheel '79, 80. Each f pinion77, 78 is provided With a stem 8l which projects outwardly a slightdistance having suiiicient 'flexibility to allen' the positions.

` this is donethe 'further torivaiei and is made angular. er Wrench 82may be applied to this stem as indicated at the right of Fig. 5 and usedfor turning it in order to raise or lower the rack associated with it.ln this manner the operator by turning the pinions 7T, 78 can raise orlower the channel beam T0 and parts carried thereby. ln doing this theoperator can adjust the height of the scraper blade 69 relatively to theroad bed. il. pair oit hound bars SIE, 8l are sccured to the tace plate(39 and to the channel beam TO. rlhese bars extend forwardly vandconverge toward each other. t their forward ends they are connected witha clevis ring` S5 to which ya tractor or a sivingle ie may be connectedfor the purpose olf' enabling the machine to be dragged forwardl,- alongthe road. A catch basket 86 located in the approximate middle of themachine and extending baciwardly therefrom is used to gather up loosestones, bricks, and various other kinds of debris and trash as the nia.-chine travels along the road. The basket has two normal positions,indica respectively by full and broken lines in i i5. il pair of bracerods 87 are detacha ly connected to the basket and to the seat p whichis shown at 88 and carries the drivers Yseat S9. The seat post 8S alsocarries a hook 91 upon which' the catch basket F36 may be suspended asindicated by broken lines in Fig. T.. A swinging link 90 is connec withlthe 'catch basket r holding it, this l basl-:et to be tilted back andVoith in ora that it may assun'ie its tivo respective normal rThe bracerod 68 upon either side o machine can be Vdisconnected tennvorarily tromthe adjacent guide plate l. 'When travel or the machine causes thechannel bea-.in 5 to swingV backvrardly at one side or words togradually assume a lon4 l v position parallel with the road. B y tl `srangement, the machine .can very readily be carried over a bridge or'through a tunnel.

|The operation ot' my device is follows: fis a generalrule, two Vtripsoi the machine are necessary in order to place a road in good condition.It the road has scattered along it a good many loose stones, it is oitendesirable to drive the machine down hill over the road, the catch basketbeing lowered and the scraper plate 1t) in the a pprcximate middle oftie machine beingT raised. This causes the stones to dritt toward the(rent-er of the machine and into the catch basket. They canbc depositedat any desirable point, say in some part of the road basket is liftedinto position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 7 and the scraper blade1l is lowered as indicated in Fig. 2. This done, the i'i'iachine isturned around and driven in the opposite direction over the same part ofthe road. The various scraper blades serve to form the road bed and toabolish or at least ameliorate irregularities upon its surface.

The operator in order to adjust the relative positions of the scraperblades 9, 9a', l0, 1G, li need not leave his seat. He merely grasps thetwo hand wheels 5a, 55 and turns them so as to raise or lower thescraper blades. It will be noted that these blades are raised or loweredall to the same extent.

lf now, the operator wishes to adjust the height of the channel beam 8at either end or throughout its entire length or if he desires tosimilarly adjust the channel beam 70, he stops the machine and uses thewrench S2 as indicated at the right of Fig. 5. Thus, by raising andlowering any or all of the cross bars, he correspondingly raises orlowers the channel beams with which the cross bars are associated. Avery line adjustment of the parts can thus be made. rlhis adjustment isnecessary owing to the fact that the composition of different roads isvariable; one road may be sandy, another one may have a clay soil, and athird may have more or less fertile soil, as for instance where a newroad is to be made across a field or through a forest.

llhe manner in which the scraper blades are adjusted may be readilyunderstood from Fig. 3.

I do not limit myself to the precise mechanism shown as variations maybe made therefrom without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A road scraper comprising a supporting frame, a plurality of scraperblades mounted upon said supporting frame and disposed end to end, arack connected with each scraper blade and extending upwardly therefrom,a pinion for each rack, a -number of shafts each carrying one of saidpinions, said shafts leading toward an approximate central position, andmechanism connected with all of said shafts to enable the operatorlocated in said position to actuate all of said shafts simultaneously.

2. A device of the character described comprising an angle beam, meansfor dragging the same along a road while the length of said angle beamextends crosswise of the road, a scraper blade disposed adjacent theapproximate middle of said angle beam, means controllable at the will ofthe operator for lowering said scraper blade into operative position andraising it out of operative position, and a catch basket connected withsaid angle beam and disposed rearwardly thereof, and means for loweringsaid catch basket into operative position and for raising it intoinoperative position.

3. A road scraper comprising'a beam, a cross bar secured to said beamand extending crosswise thereof, road wheels carried by said cross barand located upon opposite sides of said beam, means controllable at thewill of the operator for adjusting said cross bar relatively to saidbeam, means controllable at the will of the operator for adjusting saidcross bar relative to said road wheels, and a scraper blade mounted uponsaid beam.

4:. In a road scraper the combination of a beam, a plurality of crossbars secured to said beam and extending crosswise thereof, road wheelsfor supporting said cross bars and said beam, said road wheels beingdisposed in pairs, one pair to each cross bar, the wheels of each pairbeing located upon opposite sides of said beam, a plurality of scraperblades mounted upon said beam. and mechanism controllable at the will ofthe operator and connected with all of said scraper blades for adjustingthe position of said scraper blades relatively to said beam.

5. A device of the character described comprising a. scraper blade, abeam carrying said scraper blade, means for dragging said beam along aroad to be operated upon by said scraper blade, a cross bar secured tosaid beam and provided with a pair of openings located upon oppositesides of said beam, a pair of racks extending through said openings andthus disposed on opprosite sides of said beams, road wheels journaledupon said racks, and means at the will of the operator for adjustingsaid racks relatively to said cross bars.

6. A device of the character described comprising a beam, a number ofcross bars secured rigidly to said beam, a pair of supporting membersconnected with each cross bar, and adjustable relatively thereto, thesupporting members of each pair being disposed upon opposite sides ofsaid beams, a road wheel journaled upon each supporting member, aplurality of scraper blades mounted upon said beam, a separate rackconnected with each scraper blade for shiftingthe position thereofrelatively to said beam, a pinion engaging each rack, a shaft connectedwith each pinion, and gearing controllable at the will of the operatorand connected with all of said shafts for enabling the operator byactuating said gearin@ to adjust said scraper blades.

CHAS. M. DICUS.

